Funds from this program will be used to purchase two biological sterilization units (autoclaves) for the Center for Laboratory Animal Sciences (CLAS) J1 building at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) - one for animal cage systems, the other for laboratory-generated wastes. Including the autoclaves in the animal-containment wing of the J1 facility is essential for animal biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) infectious-disease research. Studies involving in-vivo experimentation models will use the space for performing animal infections, and for holding infected avian, murine, alternative animal models (some as large as domestic felids), and experimental infection and transmission models with arthropod vectors (exposed to infected animals). Additionally, because UC Davis houses the animal core facility for the Pacific Southwestern Regional Center for Excellence (PSWRCE), the facility will be used by all of the participating institutions in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. Due to facility deficiencies, much of the work that is currently funded through extramural grants is performed at remote sites, negatively impacting research productivity. If the campus had sufficient facilities, UC Davis investigators from the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Medicine and the Colleges of Biological Sciences and Agriculture & Environmental Sciences would benefit from synergy of these animal health disciplines. Funds provided by this program will make the J1 facility functional for animal BSL-3 use, leading to the study of infectious disease, increased development of animal models of human disease, and other research of direct benefit to public health. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]